Rating: 3/10
Nada Budaya is a fairly new Malaysian restaurant right under Brew Dog on Broad Street, Hockley. I was looking forward to this one but, alas, it disappointed.
The restaurant is quite nicely kitted out, if a little bland, but man is it cold! With the slow and inattentive service, you’re going to be spending a long time here, so prepare to be chilly.
Starter of tofu stuffed with vegetables was nice enough but barely lukewarm. Enjoyed the Malaysian rose drink sirap limau too.
But the main! Possibly the worst bowl of noodles I’ve ever had, and I’m including my own disastrous home made ‘noodle soups’ here. Allegedly a fish-based laksa (a type of noodle soup), it appeared to consist of spaghetti pasta floating in a bowl of tinned tuna mixed with water. A bland salad was chucked on the top, rather than what the menu promised:
Chinese hawker style thick fish based sour soup flavoured with cucumber, onion, salad, chilli, shrimp paste, tamarind, lemon grass, Vietnamese mint leaves and pineapple served hot with thick rice noodles
Truly vile. I’ve travelled all around South East Asia and I’ve never encountered such a monstrosity. At nearly £10, it wasn’t exactly cheap for an Asian meal either.
Was surprised to see that this place had pretty decent reviews on Trip Advisor – either I picked the worst thing on the menu or the people coming here have very low standards when it comes to Malaysian fare.
Nottingham restaurant reviews 